Asian handicap price limits table below. TPS could show a bit of value!
| 15.05.10 | TPS | Inter | |
| -0,75 | 3,06 | 1,49 | |
| -0,5 | 2,44 | 1,69 | |
| -0,25 | 1,99 | 2,01 | |
| 0 | 1,68 | 2,46 |
Directly from Turku, Finland by Petri.
As you might be aware of football isn't very big thing in Finland. At the moment the average attendance in Veikkausliiga is only about 2000. But this match isn't normal Veikkausliiga match, it's much more. You can call this match the real derby, probably the only one in Finland and in this match there will be quite a big attendance, my guess is around 8000 since also the weather seems to be quite warm and Finnish people don't want to watch football in lousy weather.
Ok, let's speak about the match instead of all the small talk. Everybody can read the table, it says that TPS have 8 points with 2 wins and two draws and no losses and one goal conceded. Inter's stats are weaker, only 4 points. But as you might be aware in derbys these stats doesn't really mean a thing and in general there isn't too much difference in quality between these two teams. I thought that this time I'll do a preview in different style, going through the teams position by position.
Goalkeepers: In my opinion TPS have the best keeper in Veikkausliiga. Jukka Lehtovaara is one of the candidates even for international team in few years time. He has all the abilities to be a top keeper even in bigger leagues and rumours say that Everton has been interested in him. If he continues at the level he is at the moment I'll be surprised if he doesn't leave TPS after this season. Inter will continue with Canadian David Monsalve, he is a decent keeper but at least one class weaker than Lehtovaara. In my opinion he is second choice keeper, but Patrick Bantamoi is still injured so Monsalve will continue. Don't get me wrong, Monsalve is a good keeper and probably Inter won't lose due to him. But on the hand, Inter won't probably win thanks to his saves. But TPS might win due to Lehtovaara's amazing saves.
Defence: I'll start with away team Inter, since there might (or more likely will) be some changes. Inter played cup match Wednesday and they played with new back line and what I've heard they will probably continue with this new line and it will of course be some kind of a question mark. In the central there will be one change, injured Sami Sanevuori is back and he will take his place in the center along with Joni Aho, who is normally right back. And in the right side there will quite a surprising name, since Severi Paajanen, who has been for ages in the midfield, will now play as a right back. The left side will be the same as always, with the skipper Henri Lehtonen. TPS will play with the normal line-up (Rähmönen, Nyberg, Heinikangas, Jovanovic). The biggest difference in the defences is the skill, I think Inter's back line has more skill and capabilities for better ball control and passing. On the other hand Inter's defence hasn't any physical/tall players and it might prove crucial as TPS have strong and big strikers. In general the defences are different but quite equal in class.
Midfield: This is the part where especially Inter has to succeed. If TPS can dominate the midfield it will cause also big problems to Inter defence. As said in defence section Inter will welcome back Sami Sanevuori and this will release Finnish international Ari Nyman to play as a defensive midfielder, instead of central defender. And I think he is much better in this position than in defence. Inter have Joni Kauko injured, but due to Nyman's new role I don't find this very important, all the other important midfielders ( Mika Ojala and Mika Mäkitalo) are fit and they will play a big role. TPS have some kind of problem with Finnish international Jonatan Johansson since he doesn't seem to fit to any place. He is of course a top quality player, but he has been playing in the position he isn't used to. TPS lost several key players from midfield after last season and even though the results have been very good the midfield hasn't been very creative to my eye. The new players are ok, but at least not yet at the same level than last year's top players, Kasper Hämäläinen (now in AIK, Sweden) and Wayne Brown (Fulham). The midfield battle looks like an even one. Again.
Strikers: Have I said before that Inter has a striker problem? Well, they do. And a severe one. At the moment they don't have any striker who is able to score goals. They beat 3rd division team Pöxyt on Wednesday 6-0 and only one of these goals was scored by a striker! Midfielder Daniel Antunez scored 4 times and defender Henri Lehtonen once. So even against an amateur team it was not a good evening for Inter's strikers. TPS have very powerful striking force, even though Riku Riski is injured. Strong Babatunde Wusu is a big threat to small Inter defence and TPS have also very strong wingers in Mika Ääritalo and Mika Manninen. And they will probably field also previously mentioned Jonathan Johansson on some role up front. So in this part TPS are clearly stronger.
Coach: This is the only area where Inter is clearly better. Job Dragtsma has done fantastic job by winning all you can in Finland during the last two years. In 2008 they won Veikkausliiga and after that they lost half a dozen top players. Despite of that they managed to win the cup 2009 which will lead them to Europe League and probably straight to 3rd round. Dragtsma has teached the players how to play "Inter-style" so all the players know their role. TPS have a new coach, once again. But this time they rely on the home-grown Marko Rajamäki, who has been playing for TPS and was an assistant last season. I don't say he is a bad coach, but this is his first year in charge so you really can't know if he has the abilities you need to coach in the top level.
Verdict: Are you still reading and awake? To be honest I will be surprised if Inter wins, they have big problems in scoring and they have re-organized the defence which might cause problems. But the midfield seems quite strong now. Even though TPS has fine stats this season the quality of playing hasn't been that good and they've got more points than they deserved. I suspect low scoring match with TPS being some kind of favourite.
Official line-ups:
TPS
12 Jukka Lehtovaara
4 Igor Jovanovic
5 Robert Milsom
6 Jaakko Nyberg
7 Sami Rähmönen
8 Jarno Heinikangas
9 Mikko Manninen
11 Mika Ääritalo
13 Toni Kolehmainen
16 Jonatan Johansson
20 Babatunde Wusu
FC Inter
12 David Monsalve
5 Daniel Antunez
7 Ari Nyman
9 Guillano Grot
14 Joni Aho
15 Severi Paajanen
17 Mika Ojala
22 Sami Sanevuori
27 Kennedy Nwanganga
28 Mika Mäkitalo
29 Henri Lehtonen
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